John Redmond's Last Years eBook

a creature of instinct; and the associations of his
intimate life were all decided in these years.
His affection was given to those who were comrades
in this pass of danger. The only two exceptions
to be made are, first and chiefly, Mr. Devlin, who
was too young to be actively concerned with politics
at the time of Parnell’s overthrow; and, to
speak truth, it is not possible to be so closely associated
as Redmond was with this lieutenant of his, or to be
so long and loyally served by him, and not to undergo
his personal attraction. The other exception
is Mr. J.J. Mooney, who entered Parliament and
politics later than the “split,” but whose
personal allegiance to Mr. Redmond was always declared.
He acted for long as Redmond’s secretary and
always as his counsellor—­for in all the
detail of parliamentary business, especially on the
side of private bill legislation, the House had few
more capable members. He was perhaps more completely
than Mr. Devlin one of the little group of intimates
with whom Redmond loved to surround himself in the
country. All the rest were old champions of the
fight over Parnell’s body; but by far the closest
friend of all was his brother Willie. Their marriages
to kinswomen had redoubled the tie of blood.

It should be noted here that Redmond married for the
second time in 1899, after ten years of widowerhood.
His wife was, by his wish and her own, never at all
in the public eye. All that should be said here
is that his friends found friendship with him easier
and not more difficult than before this marriage,
and were grateful for the devoted care which was bestowed
upon their leader. She accompanied him on all
his political journeyings, whatever their duration,
and gave him in the fullest measure the companionship
which he desired.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: This speech is included in “Home
Rule: Speeches of John Redmond, M.P.,”
a volume edited in 1910 by Mr. Barry O’Brien.
It contains also the American addresses quoted in
this chapter, and a speech to the Dublin Convention
in 1907, quoted in the next.]

CHAPTER II

REDMOND AS CHAIRMAN

I

The Parliament of 1892-5 was barren of results for
Ireland, being consumed by factious strife, at Westminster
between the Houses and in Ireland between the parties.
With Gladstone’s retirement it seemed as if
Home Rule were dead. But thinking men realized
that the Irish question was still there to be dealt
with, and approach to solution began along new lines.
When Lord Salisbury returned to power in 1895, Land
Purchase was cautiously extended with much success:
the Congested Districts Board, originally established
by Mr. Arthur Balfour, was showing good results, and
his brother Mr. Gerald Balfour, now Chief Secretary,
felt his way towards a policy which came to be described